By Julie

My clarinet teacher’s comments washed over me. More staccato there, A flat there, play it with a metronome, measure 27 has a dotted half note, hike up the tempo. Could I get the piece right for once? Teachers always had something to say. Well, I’d better bike home fast. Angry gray clouds ballooned from nothing in the lofty sky. Mom might have dinner ready when I got home. Maybe Toby would be hungry. The dear little hamster had been alone for an hour! He wasn’t used to that, no, since I was home-schooled. He would cope better with me being away if I just went to the local public school. I might actually make some friends that way, too.
I marched down the hallway of the music studio, wondering why it was two floors. I stopped to wait in front of the elevator. A girl with thin, blonde hair that was almost white stood in front of the door. She was slim and rather short, I found myself towering over her. My red hair suddenly seemed much too long and I was suddenly a bit bashful about the freckles sprinkled messily over my face, which I wished was neater. I wished there wasn’t a big pizza sauce stain in the middle of my t-shirt. I get nervous around kids my age sometimes, and she was no exception. Ding! The elevator pulled up. An excited kid of about five or six dragged her mother out of the elevator and across the hall to the violin studio. I was unsure for a second if I should let the girl into the elevator first or head in at the same time. Then I wasn’t sure if I should wait for the door to close or to close it with the button. Then I wasn’t sure whether to talk to her or not. I was just deciding not to when the elevator came to an abrupt stop. I wobbled over and crashed into the railing. “Whoa!” the other girl said, crashing to the floor. My nervousness about the girl gone (but about the elevator, it was buzzing), I helped her up. “I think it stopped in between floors,” the girl said, jumping on the floor to test the stability. I punched the FLOOR 1 button again. “Button’s not working,” I remarked. “We’re trapped.” In response, the girl pressed the button repeatedly, as though it would suddenly work, and jumped on the floor again. The big sign with red letters stated 2… but it quickly flashed to blank. “What do we do?” I asked, sounding hopeless. “I’ve never exactly been trapped in a broken elevator before.” The girl grinned slightly. “Me neither. Is this what that red button with the bell on it is for? Is this a real emergency?” I thought it over. “Hm… that’ll probably make sirens go off, and possibly sprinklers. What if the elevator works after a minute and we’ve got everyone in a panic? Or what if it’s just a power outage or something?” I considered. “If it was a power outage, the lights wouldn’t be on,” the girl corrected. “Should we try yelling?” I thought, then nodded. There wasn’t anything else to do. “HEY! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? IS THERE ANYONE DOWN THERE OR UP THERE!?” and “HELP! WE’RE TRAPPED IN HERE BETWEEN FLOORS!” we yelled. “I really wish I’d taken the stairs,” the light-haired girl said. “HELP!” I bellowed one last time before sinking to the elevator floor in defeat. This time, a voice called back. “CAN YOU HEAR ME?” from the top floor. “YES!” the girl and I shrieked. “THE ELEVATOR BROKE AND WE’RE STUCK IN BETWEEN FLOORS!” The voice was quiet. “I’M GOING TO GET HELP!” It finally yelled, and I assumed he took the stairs down to the first floor. Well, he kind of had to since the elevator was broken.
“Um, hello.” the girl said. My awkwardness returned. “Um, hello. I’m Ashling. I’m eleven,” I told the girl. “Cool name. I’m Winterlynn, but most people call me Winter. I’m eleven too.” Huh, that was kind of funny. I met a girl called Winter- in February, even. “What do you play?” she asked. What do I… oh, yeah. We were in the music building. “Clarinet.” I answered. “You?” I asked, even though I could tell from the long, slender case. “Flute,” she answered. “My teacher’s Mr. Romerez. He’s okay. Well, he’s nice. What school do you go to?” Oh, I hated this question. “Home-schooled.” I said, somewhat downcast. “Ah. I go to Bennet Middle.” I smiled, Bennet was near us. “Where do you live?” I asked. “My family just moved in to a house on Springlind Street. You know where that is?” I nodded excitedly. “Yep, I live on the street it intersects with! Maybe we’ll be friends.” The comment flew out of my mouth. Had I just asked someone to be my friend? I didn’t know… was that rude? Winter acted like it was no big deal- she smiled, even.
Next thing we knew, people were connecting fuses and meddling with wires around the elevator, and then our fun was over when it started up and whirred down to the first floor. I picked up my clarinet case, and Winter slung her pink and blue backpack over her shoulders. We left the broken elevator. I was just beginning to enjoy myself, too. “All right. It was nice meeting you! I guess I’ll see you around,” I waved. “Hey- I have a scooter. Want to walk home?” Winter asked eagerly. “Ooh, I’ve got a bike. Sure! By the way, do you have any pets? I have a hamster- his name’s Toby.” Winter giggled. “I’ve got three rats- Shadow, Henrietta, and Sprinkles. They’re sweet little things, even though most people don’t like rats.”
Before we knew it, our fun was over again when we passed my house. “Oh, that house is mine. I’d best be going.” Winter pouted, then flashed me a wide grin. “I like your garden gnomes, especially the one with the mushroom. All right… bye!” Winter scootered away, and I stepped inside. “Hey, you’re really late, honey! I was getting really worried about you! And who was that?”
“That’s Winter, she lives down Springlind. And I’m late because we got trapped in an elevator together. It broke between floors. Yes, I’m all right. Is dinner ready?”
I left Mom standing in the kitchen as I ran down to my room to feed Leo. I could just see the corner of the house that Winter had described as hers, out my window. I could just see a window and a door. I was a little let down that the door and window was all I could see, but then a familiar face came up to the window! She even waved!
I hurried down for my own late dinner thinking, what a lucky day!

When Luna woke, her dress was dry. She was still hungry, though. She opened her eyes to the unpleasant surprise of an unfamiliar room. In fact, she was lying on an unfamiliar couch, her head resting on an unfamiliar pillow, and an unfamiliar young face was peering at her. The face had a rather pointy (but of regular length) nose, curious blue eyes, a slim figure, and blonde hair that curled at the ends. It was the small witch’s face.
Luna yelped in surprise, finding her voice box had been unfrozen, and jumped off of the couch. “Witches!” she shrieked. “Sh! Keep it down! If you’re too loud then Misty will do away with you!” the young witch whispered. “Misty!” Luna whispered, frightened. “Who is Misty?”
“The sternest one of us. The one who tried to cast the memory spell on you. I’m Basil,” the girl offered. “There’s also Mallory and Eve and Midnight and Dawn.” Luna scoffed and yelled, “I don’t care about the members of your frightful witch coven!” The girl’s eyes widened. “Well, I can do spells too, you know. I know a very effective silencing spell. And we’re not at all frightful, nor all of us witches, or a coven. You see, we’re rather quiet and would never hurt anybody. Midnight happens to be a warlock. And you need seven members to be a coven, while we only have six since Ewe vanished. That was years ago. So we aren’t Coven Mulberry anymore.”
“Coven Mulberry? As in, the city Mulberry?” Luna asked in a loud, frightened voice. “Well, yes. We’re on the outskirts of the city.” Mulberry was only a few miles from the orphanage. She might be able to escape and run back home. “Don’t think about running,” Basil warned her. “Misty and Mallory will come after you with a memory charm, and trust me, those don’t feel good. Witches fly four times faster than you can run, you know. You must be hungry…”
“O Earth’s great spirits, let me tell
“And cast a finger-licking spell:
“Give this hungry girl some food,
“For whatever she is in the mood.”
It only took seconds for a lacy napkin to fly off the mantle, unfold itself in the lap of Luna, and suddenly hold a lapful of the most wonderful foods Luna could ever imagine: fried chicken, buttered string beans, a can of peaches, and a generous slice of blueberry pie. In minutes, it was gone. It seemed as soon as Luna took her last bite, footsteps sounded down the stairs. “Sounds like Mallory,” Basil whispered with a frightened look on her face. “If she finds you in her favorite spot… up in the kitchen, take your napkin and scrub the counters!” On her way out of the living room, Luna stumbled over… air? She glanced back and patted the air to find a solid nothing. It hissed at her. “Ah! It’s an monster, and it’s an invisible one too!” Luna whispered as the footsteps grew louder. “No, silly, that’s Peg, my shadow cat. Look closer. Now, scoot! She’s almost down!” Luna scrambled up and over to the kitchen. It smelled strongly of onions and garlic and different herbs, because they were in strings hanging from the ceiling. It was just like an ordinary kitchen in an ordinary house, Luna observed as she wiped down the counters. Into the living room came a thirty or forty year old witch with bright red hair and black eyes, wearing a black robe trimmed with dusky purple. Luna glanced at Basil to find hers was trimmed with green. She looked back at the older witch. Was this Mallory? She actually looked pretty okay… for a witch, anyway. With a startled glance, Luna spotted the outline of a shady gray cat, almost as if made from smoke, trotting along after the witch. A shadow cat? Luna peeked closer at the carpet in the living room to find another smoky cat shape. So that was Peg, Basil’s cat. Did all witches own these creatures?
“You can come out now! It’s not Mallory, just Eve!” Luna tiptoed back into the living room. “This is Eve, my mother, and her shadow cat Gem. I’m sorry I forgot to introduce before, but this is my own shadow cat Peg. Gem is short for Gemini, by the way, and Peg is short for Pegasus. You know, I think it’s time for breakfast.” At that, three other witches and a warlock seemed to float down the stairs. Luna let out a yelp and ran back into the kitchen. Being in a house with five witches, a warlock, and six shadow cats was too much for one day.

Luna was exhausted, hungry, and wet. Water dripped from the ends of her brownish-blonde hair, her nose, her glasses and the hem of her dress. Her feet slid on the slippery cobblestone street. The grocery bag full of empty bottles felt heavier than ever as the rain pounded upon her. Luna wanted to duck into a building- any store, any home, any shelter she could find- and stay there. But she had drawn the shortest straw at the orphanage, so her job was to take the empty bottles down to the recycling center. Normally this was all right, even pleasant, but not in the rain.
The streets were mostly quiet, everyone was inside accept for just a few people under black umbrellas who eventually scuttled away. Am I the only one alive at this hour? Has everyone vanished except me? Luna was so absorbed in this exciting thought that she at first didn’t notice the six dark, shadowy shapes flying above her. Birds, Luna thought. How queer. She did not at first notice the brewing, stirring, whirlpool of clouds above these creatures as they flew through the rain. Nor did she notice the flapping of robes or the strange circular formation they flew in. She did not notice either of these attributes until the cloud of creatures was almost gone, and then she let out a gasp and dropped her sack of bottles. She could hear one shatter, but she did not care because who would care about a broken bottle when a coven of witches were soaring above you?
At this very thought, the witches suddenly halted, turned their brooms around, and zoomed back toward the street. Luna wanted to run like mad into the restaurant beside her, but her joints had frozen to ice and she couldn’t move as the coven grew closer and closer to the small girl. Their faces were always in shadow, but their unmistakeable cloaks and pointed hats grew closer and closer on their brooms until Luna was practically face to face with them. She wanted to scream, but her voice box had frozen along with her joints, so all she could do was stare and gape at the mythical beings. Luna opened and closed her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Unfortunately, sound came out of the mouth of one of the biggest witches:
“O Earth’s great spirits, let me tell
“And cast upon this girl a spell:
“You won’t remember, you will find
“This moment cleared from your wee-”
“Sh! No, Misty, don’t you-”
Luna opened her eyes. She had been bracing herself for whatever wicked spell this deep-voiced creature was about to cast on her, but one of the witches, the smallest one, had cut off the curse. Luna watched silently in disbelief as the small witch heaved Luna onto her broom, and then fell promptly into a faint.

Let’s take a quick trip to the coastlines of Chile and Argentina to learn about yet another species: the Magellanic penguin! The Magellanic likes to nest in burrows in dirt and clay under rocks and bushes on the coastline. They can duck in and hide in these burrows if they get disturbed. These penguins can also bray, moo, and cackle.There are 700,000 pairs of these penguins. They are of stable condition, which means they aren’t vulnerable or endangered. They are excelent long-distance swimmers and catch a lot of krill, squid, and fish to eat. They hunt for their dinner in groups. They lay two eggs, which get equal care and are both likely to hatch. The Magellanic penguin looks a lot like the Humboldt penguin, another member of the temparate climate group. It has a stripe a lot like an upside-down horseshoe across its chest, and a black stripe under its chin. Both stripes are black. When the weather is warm, the feathers around these penguins’ eyes fall off and pink patches form. When the weather starts to get cool again, they grow the feathers back. It’s a little like taking a jacket on and off. The Magellanic is the biggest of all the temparte climate penguin species (Galapagos, Humboldt, and African are the other ones). Can you guess where these penguins got their name? If you guessed something about an explorer, you’re right! Ferdinand Magellan was a famous explorer who circumnavigated the world a long time ago. That means he sailed around the whole world! He discovered these penguins in the year of 1519 on a voyage around the tip of South America. So hurry on over to this marvelous habitat to see these curious penguins just like Magellan did.
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph I researched and wrote on my own time.

Our final feathery friend is known as the Rockhopper penguin. Hopping peacefully from rock to rock like they’re rubber balls, early visitors to the Falkland Islands (where these penguins live) called them “Jumping Jacks”! The islands where rockhopper penguins live have the greatest temperature range of any penguin habitat. That means it can be chilly, and you’ll be sweating in a while! Rockhoppers, like all penguins, have snow-white bellies and chests and black backs. This is to camoflauge them from their predators and prey when they’re swimming. From above, their dark backs blend in with the dark waters below. From below, their light bellies blend with the light sky above. They also have spines along their tongues for a reason, to keep food going one way: in! Rockhoppers are the smallest of the crested penguins, sporting firey yellow plumes. In mating season, these penguins shake their head rapidly to create a flurry of crest, almost like a halo! This helps them attract a mate. Chicks gather in créches, or small nursery groups. Rockhoppers also have a very ecstatic vocalization, or a very loud call or cry. Rockhoppers are known for their ability to hop! Rather like a kangaroo, they hop instead of walking. They can scale slopes close to 500 feet in an hour, using about six-inch hops. They take breaks if the slope gets too steep. These determined Jumping Jacks are sure to hop to the top of your favorite animals list!
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph was written for a school project

Here comes another kind of penguin fit for a king: the Royal penguin! Unlike the Emperor and King, they stroll down the red carpets of Macquarie island. This island is halfway between Australia and Antarctica. It is also the sole place that royal penguins live! Most penguins inhabit a few islands, but the royal penguin sticks to Macquarie. They nest in depressions in the ground lined with pebbles or grass. They also pack together in mammoth colonies: ranging from 75 to 500,000 pairs! There were 56 royal penguin colonies counted on Macquarie in 1984. There are 850,000 pairs of royal penguins in total, and they are considered to be a stable species. They are white and black with yellow and black crests. Royals are one of the biggest crested penguins.They also have thick orange bills. They are about as tall as a medium-sized bush, two feet. They weigh 10 to 15 pounds, which is a few pounds heavier than a newborn baby. They look a lot like Macaroni penguins, except for their white chins. It’s understandable that they were once thought to be a Macaroni subspecies, their living spaces even overlap! The shape of a royal penguin’s body helps it to swim at speeds of 20 miles per hour! This probably explains why they spend lots of time at sea. Their speed helps them catch crustaceans, fish, and squid for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Their diet is about half krill and other small crustaceans. 48% is fish, and about 2% squid. Little penguins huddle into a créche for warmth and safety. These kingly and queenly penguins may not live in a palace, but they sure do rule the penguins!
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph I researched and wrote on my own time.

The penguin I will tell you about next is the Snares Island, or Snares Crested penguin. Splishing and splashing, braying and bickering, you probably want to go watch up close! Sorry, but Snares Island penguins live on Snares Island, New Zealand. This island is a marine sanctuary, and humans are prohibited. You can catch views of these penguins from boats, though. Snares Island is completely free of introduced land animals! These animals are big threats to many kinds of penguins, so this gives Snares Island penguins a better place to live! Luckily, Snares Island penguins don’t migrate from this wonderful home. These penguins come together in huge rookeries! The rookeries can hold millions of these penguins in just one crowded rookery! They make their nests on forested beaches or high rocky hills. They scrape out a little nest and line it with twigs and branches. When their egg hatches, it stays in a créche with other chicks, waiting for its parents to bring it some fish, squid, and krill. When they grow a little bit older, they hang around and sometimes get in the way at the rookery. These penguins are called “hoodlums”. Snares Island penguins are black and white, like all penguins. They have a thick, heavy orange bill. They also have red eyes. They have bright yellow crests on their heads. They are difficult to tell from other crested penguins, especially while they’re swimming. Unfortunately, these penguins are considered “very vulnerable” because of their low numbers and limited breeding areas. There are only 25,000 pairs! No matter how rare, these Snares Crested penguins are sure to win your heart.
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph I researched and wrote on my own time.

About our next penguin: when people here the words “macaroni penguin”, they’re likely to think either “You’re kidding!” or “I’m hungry!” These delicious critters even live on South Sandwich Island! These penguins are actually named for hats called “macaroni” hats. They had feathers in them, like the macaroni penguin crests, and were worn by 18th century men called “macaronis”. This is also where the song “Yankee Doodle” came from! Macaroni penguins are the largest crested penguin. They get their orangey-yellow crests as adults. Crests are like little tufts of yellow and orange feathers sticking out of the sides of some types of penguins’ heads. Macaronis look a bit like Royal penguins, but Royals have white chins. Macaronis have white bellies, and backs and heads as black as coal-colored licorice. Macaronis and social, and spend lots of time together. Little baby penguins huddle into crèches, like many other kinds of penguins. Crèches are little little groups or huddles. Lovelace, from the movie Happy Feet, is most likely a macaroni. But these penguins don’t live in the snow with adélies, they live on islands like South Sandwich and South Georgia Island. These penguins breed the furthest south of the crested group, and don’t migrate. There are nearly 12 million pairs of these birds, making them the most abundant penguins on Earth! Macaronis sometimes forge and indulge their meals of fish and squid after dark. To troop around, macaronis hop on both feet. You’ll find these distinguished macaroni penguins to add a formal touch to the world of penguin curiosity.
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph was written for a school project

You’ll find the fairy penguin, or little blue penguin, making a splash in the sub-Antarctic regions south of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Living up to their name, these compact penguins are only 16 to 17 inches tall and weigh but two pounds! They are the smallest penguins. Fairy penguins have indigo-blue and slate-gray backs, heads, and flippers. Their bellies and chests are white. They have tiny heads with two pinprick earholes and bigger bodies. Their torpedolike shape helps them swim through the water rapidly. These penguins are excelent swimmers. Their scientific name, Eudyptula, means ‘good little diver’ in Greek! They spend most of the day at sea snagging small fish, miniature squid and octopi, and tiny crustaceans. They forage for food in groups called “rafts”. They return to their nests, burrows or rock crevices lined with plant material, at the end of the day. Did you know that fairy penguins reuse the same nest every year? They usually live for about seven years. They have a population of 500,000 pairs, or 1,000,000 birds! My last interesting fact about these penguins is their wide sound range: they can bark, bleat, bray, cackle, growl, hiss, quack, scream, sneeze, trumpet, and even moo and meow! As you can clearly see, these itsy-bitsy penguins are definently small but mighty!
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph I researched and wrote on my own time.

A loud, braying call pierces the air. Å donkey? It could be a jackass penguin! Jackass penguins are penguins of many names. Some call them blackfoot penguins, because of their webbed feet with dark hues. Another name is the jackass penguin, because of their cry similar to a donkey or jackass. Their last name is the African penguin, because they live on islands off the coast of southern Africa. They nest in burrows dug under rocks or the small amount of vegetation. They’re known to munch on tiny fish like sardines, suncord, and anchovies. They also like squid and crustaceans. They can eat a pound of food each day! Blackfoot penguins are of average penguin size, about two feet tall. That is tall enough to peer over the end of the average piano bench. They have light bellies and black backs, flippers, and heads. A white stripe surrounds their cheeks. Pink featherless patches lay above their eyes. A horseshoe-shaped band crosses their chests. They also have black spots on their chests that are unique to every penguin like human fingerprints! African penguins have a population on about 180,000 birds, one of the smallest penguin species! They are recognized as “vulnerable” because of oil spills and habitat loss. Possibly due to this, jackass penguins are some of the least-studied penguin species. Watching this sparse species of penguins dive in and out of the waves searching for a meal would be nothing less than a great pleasure.
NOTE: This nonfiction paragraph I researched and wrote on my own time.